I tend to write my books on my blog. I do this for various reasons, one of which is that I desire input, questions, and suggestions from readers. The following posts are from my book When God Pled Guilty, which is an examination of how to understand the violent actions of God in the Old Testament in light of Jesus Christ, and especially, Jesus Christ dying for His enemies on the cross.
So read through the posts below, and join the conversation on each post. Also, invite others to read these posts by using the sharing buttons at the bottom, because many people struggle with how to understand the violence of God in the Bible.
When God Pled Guilty
- Introduction: God is Guilty
Theories on the Violence of God in the Old Testament
- Common Solutions to the Problem of Violence in the Old Testament
- God, Violence, and Atheism
- Allegorical Genocide
- Is God Bipolar?
- God-Inspired Error
- The Kingdom of God vs. The Kingdom of God
- Divine Accommodation to Violence
- Bible Violence is Exaggerated
- Sometimes Death is Merciful
My Proposal for Understanding the Violence of God in the Old Testament
- Descriptions of a Violent God are Inspired and Inerrant
- Jesus Rules
- Read the Bible Backwards
- Jesus Reveals Israel
- Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
- Destroy the Devil’s Work
- Cruciform God
- The Love and Horror of the Cross
- Jesus Became Sin for Us
- A Proposal About the Violence of God in the Old Testament
- A Light at the End of the Theological Tunnel
- All War in Holy War
- Is God a Murderer?
- Satan Casts out Satan
- How Satan Uses Religion to Cast out Satan
- In Killing Jesus, Satan Cast out Satan
- Why God Appears Violent in Scripture
- God as a Divine Scapegoat
- Jesus as a Divine Scapegoat
- When the Fullness of Time Had Come
- God is Not Angry With You
- Why I Would Have Killed Jesus
- We are Of Our Father, the Devil
- God Takes on Our Violence
- God Pleads Guilty
- God the Sin Bearer
- God is NOT Violent
- Is God Lying about Violence in the Old Testament?
- Let the Condemned God Die
- Violence of God and the Love of Jesus
- God Asks for our Forgiveness
Theological Chaos Theory
- Chaos Theory and Violent Scriptures
- God’s Policy of Non-Intervention
- God is Not Absent
- Why Nature is Destructive
- Storms are Not From God
- Incarnation of God in the Old Testament
- God Appears Guilty; Just Like Jesus
- Incarnation of God in the Violence of Israel
- Satan seeks only to Destroy
- God Sometimes Withdraws Protection
- Bloody Jesus
The Violence of the Flood
- Is the Flood a Beautiful Story about Rainbows?
- Translations of Genesis 6:13
- Context of Genesis 6-8 and the flood
- The Flood and ANE Cosmology
- How Genesis 8:21 reveals God’s Purpose in the Flood
- The Flood According to Job 22:15-18
- The Flood According to Isaiah 54:7-9
- The Flood According to Jesus (Matthew 24)
- The Flood According to 2 Peter 2:5-7
- God Takes Responsibility for the Flood
More Coming Soon! Subscribe to the Blog to Keep Updated!
Miscellaneous Posts on the Violence of God in Scripture
- The Violence of God and Evil
- Did Jesus Condemn People? No!
- John Piper on the Violence of God
- Is God Lying About His Involvement in Violence?
- Comparing God with Hitler
- Is God a Psychotic Mass Murderer who Drowns Babies?
- Where is Jesus in “The Bible”?
Ooh! Seriously long reading! Soooo many links.
Jeremy,
I have been in Greg’s church for over a decade. He is tremendous. I am reading his two volume book which is very thorough and well written. I believe that understanding God as totally revealed in Christ and his sacrifice on the cross for everyone is a historic theological revelation. I place Boyd along side C. S. Lewis in terms of his impact on Christian thought and theology. Glad you are pursuing a similar approach.
While this is the pinafore of his work to date, I encourage you and those reading this to listen to many of his sermons. Much to gain for those who do.
Bill B in MN.
This is such a heavy read, but what a good one. Thanks for all the information. God bless you!
I myself have questioned how can the same God (Jesus) in the New Testament be the same one in the Old. I am learning though, that the same love was in the Old, even with the plagues. God was trying to show Egypt that He was the One True God. While He was showing Egypt His power and might, He was protecting Israel. I have often wondered why if God is a Spirit, and that Spirit is love, how can He send ANYONE, no matter what they have done to a fiery, eternal torment? Eternal??? I mean, I understand a few years of torment, but ETERNALLY? The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Any crime in my opinion. If I (as human and ugly as they come) do not want MY enemies to suffer that, then how can the God who gave us love and is the very reason for it, punish His children in this way. I have begun to read the Scripture in love and not through religious eyes, and I am beginning to believe in a more radical way all of the time. I am starting to see why the disciples and apostles were willing to die for it. It is truly the greatest love story ever given to us. I cannot wait to see what God reveals to us all in the last day. I believe He will reveal that He really DID come to save the WHOLE world…just like He said He would.
I just love it. The new is in the old contained and the old is in the new explained! We too preach this at our Church – that God’s Word is His Word! There are a lot of interesting rabbit trails to go down when discussing the Bible. It is an amazing Book. The truth is, David is right in that God could have decided not to add the mass slaughters into His Word, yet He did. Why? I believe it is there for us to discover. Yes, it’ll actually take a bit of time and work to dig but it is well worth it. God will show those who diligently seek Him (Jeremiah 29:13). I have my own particular reason as to why all were slaughtered. It wasn’t because God was hungry for blood but because He had to protect the bloodline of the One who was on His way to save mankind. Anyway, loved the post. God bless.
Was Jesus punished in hell for our sins the way Kenneth Copeland says he was?